The Madness Of Markets Disconnects From Reality!

This is our weekly market update where we start in the US, cross to Europe and Asia and end in Australia, covering commodities and crypto along the way. Markets seem to be in self-reinforcing feedback loop, with the MSCI Global Index up another 2.38% over the past week, while the All Asia Ex Japan rose 6.68% for the week and 2.11% on Friday and even the European STOXX 600 was higher, though did ease back on Friday. In contrast, Australia’s ASX 200 fell 1.5% on Friday to be flat this week, after the Reserve Bank hiked interest rates by 25 basis points and warned of higher inflation that could stifle growth. But the S&P 500 closed at a record high, after topping 7400 for the first time, as the seemingly relentless rally in semiconductor stocks – as well as the three biggest megacap techs – gathered momentum. This is a bubble. European stocks declined on Friday as a fresh exchange of fire between the United States and Iran shook confidence in a month-long ceasefire, sending investors fleeing risk assets amid deepening fears over global energy supplies. The pan-European Stoxx 600 slipped 0.7%, Germany’s DAX dropped 1.4%, the FTSE 100 fell 0.4% and France’s CAC 40 declined 1.1%. Asian stocks fell on Friday, with Japanese and South Korean markets coming off record highs as renewed military action between the U.S. and Iran dampened hopes for an end to the war. But overall losses were limited, as technology shares remained resilient on optimism over artificial intelligence. South Korea’s KOSPI was among the worst performers for the day, falling 1.6% and coming further off record highs hit earlier in the week. But the index was by far the best-performing Asian exchange this week, and was set to add more than 11%. Australian shares fell the most in seven weeks in a near $50 billion wipeout as renewed hostilities between the US and Iran sent oil prices higher and rattled hopes for a peace deal. The S&P/ASX 200 Index fell 1.5 per cent, to 8744.4, with 10 of the 11 sectors weaker. The decline was the steepest since March 19, when equities hit their recent low, and left the benchmark up 0.2 per cent for the week. Finally, in crypto, Bitcoin was little changed on Friday, but saw a sixth straight week of gains, aided by strong institutional buying, bargain demand, and as U.S. lawmakers marked some progress towards passing a key regulatory bill. It was last at Bitcoin inched up by 0.5% to $80,275, for a 2% weekly gain. http://www.martinnorth.com/ Details of our one to one service are here: https://digitalfinanceanalytics.com/blog/dfa-one-to-one/ Go to the Walk The World Universe at https://walktheworld.com.au/ Find more at https://digitalfinanceanalytics.com/blog/ where you can subscribe to our research alerts Please consider supporting our work via Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/DigitalFinanceAnalytics The full detailed set of post code data is available as a subscription service. Or make a one-off contribution to help cover our costs via PayPal at: https://www.paypal.me/MartinDFA We also can receive bitcoins at: 13zBL1oRib9VJu8Uc9zUGNhxKDBBgUpDN1 Please share this post to help to spread the word about the state of things.... Caveat Emptor! Note: this is NOT financial or property advice!! 🚨BEWARE OF SCAMMERS🚨 As there are accounts impersonating Walk The World in the comments on YouTube, note that our comments will have a distinguishable verified symbol. And remember that we will never message you asking you to give us money or talk to us on other platforms such as WhatsApp or Telegram